Crossing the Lynnway a Dangerous, Deadly Act

The death Saturday morning of an elderly man hit by a car while crossing the Lynnway to get to Walmart is a tragedy of the first order. He was doing nothing wrong but crossing a major highway without the aid of traffic lights or a cross walk.

He was not alone. Others were with him while crossing. It was only the luck of the draw that he was plowed into while the others made it safely to the other side.

Obviously, crossing the Lynnway should not be attempted without using the crosswalk and the traffic lights which act as a safety advantage closer to the car wash.

Mayor Judith Flanagan-Kennedy has indicated it might be a good idea for the state to create one or two crosswalks to aid the safety factor for men, women and children crossing over the six-lanes to the Walmart side of the road.

We’d go one better.

A pedestrian bridge should be erected crossing the Lynnway. It should be modeled after the rather nice looking pedestrian bridge crossing the Lynnway at North Shore Community College.

With a pedestrian bridge near to the Walmart, there will be no need to slow up the great volume of traffic that now exists almost all the time near to Walmart.

The calls for a crosswalk are standard operating procedure. But what is needed is a bigger commitment to safety at all hours of the day and night and this is exactly what a pedestrian walkway over the Lynnway would do for everyone needing to go from the westerly side of the Lynnway to the Walmart side.

Without a pedestrian bridge, the hundreds upon hundreds of people crossing over the Lynnway all run the same risk as the 80 year old man who was run over Saturday morning.

How many more people must lose their lives crossing the Lynnway before the state realizes the need for a pedestrian bridge.

That is the question?

R Ford43

it does make alot of since and will save alot of lives and also alot of law suits that can be costly

Melissa

I see they finally put in a pedestrian crosswalk there. I think the bridge would have been a better idea as I agree, traffic is always congested and you still run the risk of someone not paying attention. Sad that it takes something so tragic for them to realize something that should be obvious. People cross back and forth on that lynnway all the time.